- Flames of War. I've decided to stop treating FoW as a "special" game. I have a policy of stocking all of my Top 10 games very deeply, if not completely. FoW is now getting a closer examination, with about 50 items (in various quantities) immediately put on sale for 30% off or more. Many others will be special-order only after they sell. It annoys some Flames of War customers, but where I once see green, I see blue: Flames of War inventory dollars are being shifted to buy space marines.
- New TV Commercial. There have been some slight revisions, such as fixing the incorrect phone number and having the URL on at the end. I'm not terribly happy with the commercial overall. It's not as bad as I think some of you think it is, but it's not nearly as good as the old one. I'm adjusting my advertising budget, based mostly on how much better than expected we're doing now, but also so we don't rely too much on this one medium.
- Banners. The various banners will be ready for pick-up tomorrow (Monday) and Jess, our guru designer, will be mounting them for hanging so they're ready for the grand opening next Sunday. The game center has seen a face-lift, with most of the slatwall mounted and pictures on the walls. I'll have to get a photo.
- Digital CCG's. These are turning out to be as problematic as regular CCG's. Chaotic has arrived with a poor margin, reported mediocre game play, and no interest from customers other than those who pre-ordered 5 months ago. Eye of Judgement came out early in the video game stores, but most had a tiny supply of the special controllers, limiting its appeal. Worse, this article talks about how you can color photo copy the cards, getting around the collectible element of the game. The author of the article writes:
What looked like a lucrative endeavor might end up with more money in the pockets of printer cartridge manufacturers than anyone else.
- Dumbledore is Gay. The issue got a mixed reaction in the SF Gate poll below. It also brought out articles on what other characters in fiction are obviously gay. Dumbledore is Gay - Who's Next? was one. Samwise Gamgee, Lando Calrissian, Willy Wonka. Oh the humanity!
- Economy. I mention it here and there. Looks like interest rates are going down again (good for me, questionable for the nation at large). There's a great Economist story this week online that does a post-mortem on the credit crunch/housing fiasco. As a role-playing gamer I enjoy abstract systems with no verifiable outcome, so economics can be fun for me to read.
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